Philip Brooks, 32, of Gloucester, was accused of assaulting three men in a bar at a Veterans of Foreign Wars banquet hall in North Andover. Brooks and his wife were married five years ago but were having a wedding reception to gather family and friends.

Brooks had come down from the reception upstairs at the banquet hall, when he told older veterans in the bar, including at least one who had fought in Vietnam, that they didn’t appreciate veterans who served in Iraq.

"He started yelling at people," VFW manager Joe Lynch told the newspaper. "He was disrespectful of the older vets who were in here. He was calling everybody out. I don’t know if he was drunk, but he was crazed."

At a court appearance on Monday, prosecutors said the attack was unprovoked.

“By all accounts, this is an unprovoked attack on several people in this bar area that had nothing to do with the defendant before the encounter,” said prosecutor Kimberly Gillespie.

Police said Brooks punched a man in the face and broke his wife’s glasses before setting his sights on a 79-year-old man watching TV at the bar.

“He grabs him by the back of the head and slams his face on the solid wood bar resulting in injuries,” Gillespie said.

Brooks’ attorney said police are not telling the whole story.

“From reading this report, it's very clear the police tried to slant this entirely in one direction, and that's not usually what happens when alcohol is involved,” said defense attorney Debra Delvechhio.

Brooks was charged with two counts of assault and battery and one count of assault and battery of a person over 65 with a dangerous weapon.

A judge was scheduled to release Brooks with an electronic monitoring device on Wednesday when he will begin house arrest. He will also be ordered to undergo a medical and psychological evaluation.

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